CS 493/693/793-9I Thurs 5:00pm – 7:30pm CH 430 Instructor: Dr. Yuliang Zheng This new course will expose students to Bitcoin, Ripple and other notable cryptocurrencies. Topics to be covered include how a cryptocurrency works, blockchain and other decentralized consensus protocols, digital coin mining, security and privacy of cryptocurrencies, cryptographic techniques for digital currency, and applications …

Open Assistant, Associate, and Full Professor position The Department of Computer and Information Sciences (CIS) at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is seeking candidates for a tenure-track/tenure-earning/tenured faculty position at the Assistant/Associate/Full-Professor rank beginning Fall 2016. For additional information about the Department, please visit: http://www.cis.uab.edu. Candidates with expertise in all core CIS topics …

UAB Department of Computer and Information Sciences held its annual High School Programming Contest on Saturday 4/25/15 under the leadership of Professor Alan Sprague. Thirty-three contestants from four different schools registered for the contest. Participating high schools included Alabama School Fine Arts, Bob Jones High School, Spain Park High School and the LAMP program, based …

Nitesh Saxena, Ph.D., the director of the Security and Privacy In Emerging computing and networking Systems (SPIES) Lab and his team of researchers have developed simple but effective techniques to prevent sophisticated malware from secretly attacking smartphones. UAB graduate student Babins Shrestha, a researcher in UAB’s SPIES Lab, co-authored the article and is presenting the …

Xinpeng Liao, a Ph.D. student in KDDM Lab, recently won an Outstanding Presentation Award in the paper competition at 92nd annual meeting in Alabama Academy of Science based on the work “Mining Low-duplicate Social Media Images for Criminal Forum Detection”，which is the result of collective intelligence from all co-authors : Pradip Chitrakar, Dr.Chengcui Zhang, and …

Nitesh Saxena can do some very bad things with your digital devices. He knows how to trick you into buying him a diamond ring when you think you’re only paying for a burger. He understands how to hijack your phone’s camera and use it to build a 3D picture of your office that can be …

About Us

The Department of Computer and Information Sciences (CIS) is housed within the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS). Our undergraduate program offers a Bachelor of Science degree. The undergraduate UAB Computer and Information Sciences degree is accredited by the Computing Accreditation Commission of ABET, www.abet.org. Additionally, the BS in Computer and Information Sciences offers the opportunity to minor in another discipline as well as co-op programs with local industry.

CIS offers high quality programs of study leading to MS and PhD degrees in Computer and Information Sciences, as well as an inter-disciplinary Bioinformatics program. Additionally, CIS offers a shared-MS degree program with Justice Sciences and the UAB School of Business in Computer Forensics and Security Management (MS-CFSM).

CIS research is funded by the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research and the National Institutes of Health, the Defense Advanced Projects Agency, the Department of Homeland Security, among others. The department hosts a seminar series and has an active student ACM chapter.

Vision

The Computer and Information Sciences mission is excellence in teaching, research, and service that advances the UAB mission, while serving its students, community, state, region, and nation. Our graduates bring technical, ethical, and life-long learning skills to Computer and Information Science careers.

Mission

The Mission of the CIS Program is as follows:

To provide quality instruction to all our students

To carry out relevant research, frequently in collaboration with other disciplines

To provide service activities to the university community, computer professionals in the community as well as society as a whole.

Degree Programs

The Bachelor of Science in Computer and Information Sciences promotes an appreciation of both theoretical and applied topics within the context of computational thinking, through quality instruction in the classroom and laboratory. The Bachelor of Science degree prepares individuals for careers in theoretical or applied computer and computational sciences, software engineering and commercial software development, and science-related professions.

The Master’s degree in Computer and Information Sciences provides an extra level of knowledge, complementing the foundation provided by the Bachelor of Science Degree. It also helps many students with undergraduate degrees in closely related disciplines, such as in mathematics or engineering, to make a transition to a deep knowledge of Computer Science. Students with the MS degree go on to solve computational problems in the sciences and engineering, while bringing a deeper, broader perspective to such problems than students prepared at the Bachelor of Science level.

The Master’s degree in Computer Forensics and Security Management provides an interdisciplinary degree program emphasizing key theory, practice, and foundations from computing, justice sciences, and business to address current and emerging topics in computer security, digital forensics, and cyber crime. This degree helps students seeking analyst roles in industry and government prepare to fill crucial gaps in the Nation’s capacity for critical infrastructure protection, privacy, identity, and the safety of e-commerce. Students with the MS-CFSM degree go on to solve problems such as tracking criminals to e-mail crime, identifying malware provenance and attack vectors in computer systems, and working specific criminal investigations where computers, networks, and or e-commerce are involved.

The Doctor of Philosophy degree in Computer and Information Sciences (PhD) prepares graduates for life-long careers in scientific inquiry, as well as ability to work in industry where rapidly evolving computer and information sciences drives the 21st Century world economy. PhD graduates provide the greatest impact on the search program of CIS, as well as the community by providing researchers, teachers and scholars in the community, state, region, and nationally. Students completing the PhD go on to solve problems such as new ways to mine “big data” from the Internet, solve problems in cyber crime, create innovative visualization and graphics solutions, advance the use of modern IT infrastructure such as cloud computing, and pursue inquiries at the frontiers of computer science understanding.

Bachelor of Science Educational Objectives

The educational objectives of the Bachelor of Science in Computer and Information Sciences degree are to prepare qualified graduates who will be successful in the computing profession or in graduate school, and gain the following abilities within a few years of graduation from our program:

Continue routinely to acquire and apply Computer Science techniques and skills to solve practical and real-world problems of value to their employers/customers

Learn to become excellent team members, communicate effectively, and work with others from diverse backgrounds

Grow their understanding of professional and ethical responsibilities in the daily and evolving practice of their profession

Student Outcomes

Student outcomes for the B.S. in Computer and Information Sciences are as follows:

An ability to apply knowledge of computing and mathematics appropriate to the discipline

An ability to analyze a problem, and identify and define the computing requirements appropriate to its solution

An ability to design, implement, and evaluate a computer-based system, process, component, or program to meet desired needs

An ability to function effectively on teams to accomplish a common goal

An understanding of professional, ethical, legal, security and social issues and responsibilities

An ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences

An ability to analyze the local and global impact of computing on individuals, organizations, and society

Recognition of the need for and an ability to engage in continuing professional development

An ability to use current techniques, skills, and tools necessary for computing practice

An ability to apply mathematical foundations, algorithmic principles, and computer science theory in the modeling and design of computer-based systems in a way that demonstrates comprehension of the tradeoffs involved in design choices.

An ability to apply design and development principles in the construction of software systems of varying complexity.

These student outcomes represent the knowledge and capabilities that the faculty of CIS at UAB has determined that each of our graduates should have by the time the student graduates. These outcomes support our CAC ABET Criterion 3.

Annual student enrollment and graduation data

For Fall 2013, there were 204 undergraduate students enrolled as majors in Computer and Information Sciences undergraduate program and during the academic year 2012-2013 (July 1 – June 30), 22 students graduated with a B.S. in CIS. For student enrollment and graduation data for previous year please visit the UAB Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Analysis website here.

Faculty Employment

The UAB Department of Computer and Information Sciences invites applications for the position of Assistant, Associate, and Full Professor.